Democrats have been an endangered species on Ohio’s Supreme Court for more than a decade, but they have an advantage now that they haven’t enjoyed in years.

One of them already is serving on the court.

Justice Yvette McGee Brown was appointed to an open seat in 2011 and is the only Democrat on the state’s highest court.

The advantage of incumbency is important, but it’s no guarantee she’ll be able to break the GOP’s stranglehold on the seven-member court. No Democrat has been elected to the court since 2000.

Brown’s status as a sitting justice makes her battle with Butler County Republican Sharon Kennedy the most visible of the three races this year for Supreme Court seats.

The others are between Republican Terrence O’Donnell and Democrat Michael Skindell, and Republican Robert Cupp and Democrat Bill O’Neill.

Kennedy, a Butler County Domestic Relations judge, is a former police officer who says her conservative ideology and her practical experience in the justice system would serve her well on the Supreme Court.

Kennedy said judges should focus on upholding the law instead of legislating from the bench. “Ohioans want a justice who is going to uphold the constitution,” she said.

Her opponent, however, is a difficult target because she doesn’t stand out much from the court’s Republican majority. Brown, a former Franklin County domestic relations and juvenile court judge, has voted with the majority in 105 of 111 decisions since joining the court.

Her GOP colleagues on the court speak highly of her and even the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, which has pumped millions of dollars into GOP candidates for years, has said Brown’s record is not anti-business.

Brown, the first African-American woman on the court, also has won the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police endorsement and was rated “highly recommended” by the Ohio State Bar Association. Kennedy was the only one of the six Supreme Court candidates rated “not recommended.”

“I’ve had a broad base of support from business owners, law firms and trial lawyers,” Brown said. “I say the same thing to everyone: If you want a justice who is fair and impartial, that’s what you get with me.”

Experience is the big issue in the race between Skindell, a state senator from Lakewood, and O’Donnell, a Supreme Court justice for 10 years.

O’Donnell said his resume, which includes 14 years as a Common Pleas judge and eight years as a state appeals judge, makes him the most qualified for the job.

“I’ve tried virtually every type of case,” O’Donnell said. “My opponent is a state legislator. He’s never been a judge, never sentenced a defendant, never tried a case. I think there’s a sharp contrast.”

Skindell, however, said he has the kind of experience and background the court needs. He has practiced law for 25 years, worked in the Ohio Attorney General’s office and served as an administrative hearing officer at the Ohio Department of Health, deciding more than 300 cases in 10 years.

He said his election also would help bring balance to a court dominated by Republicans.

“Everybody’s voice needs to be heard at that conference table or on the bench of the Ohio Supreme Court when these decisions are being made,” Skindell said.

O’Neill, a former state appeals court judge, said he also wants to shake up the court – and the system used to elect them. He said he takes no campaign money from political donors and he wants to remove money entirely from Supreme Court elections.

“The way we elect judges in Ohio, it’s wrong,” O’Neill said. “Judges take money from litigants and lawyers and that badly denigrates people’s faith in the court system.”

He recently filed a complaint with the state’s disciplinary counsel against Cupp, his opponent, and against O’Donnell, saying they took campaign donations from a First Energy political action committee while they were deciding a case involving the company.

Both Cupp and O’Donnell acknowledged their campaign committees took $6,300 each from the PAC, but they said they did nothing wrong.

Cupp said he doesn’t know who donates to his campaign committee, and both judges said the money played no role in their decision to join with a majority ruling favorable to the company.

“Everything we have done is within the rules,” Cupp said. “(O’Neill) may have a complaint with the way the system operates, but until that gets changed, we all have to operate in the system we have.”

Regardless of the system, Cupp said, he’s the most qualified judge for the job. He said he’s worked in every branch of government – as a state senator, county commissioner and judge – and understands better than most the needs of Ohio’s people and businesses.

“It’s important to have a stable and consistent legal environment,” Cupp said. “That’s my approach.”